A spirited defensive effort helped the UNM women's basketball team withstand frigid shooting to upset 18th-ranked Colorado State University 56-50 in The Pit Thursday.
The Lobos (16-5, 5-2 in the Mountain West Conference) trailed by 11 points at halftime and shot 23.5 percent, but recovered by using a smothering defense to hold CSU (16-4, 5-1) to its lowest point total of the season.
The stellar defensive statistics did not stop there - UNM created 25 turnovers, a season-high for both the Lobos and Rams. The turnovers helped the Lobos hold CSU to a mere 17 second half points and helped them start the second half on a 23-8 run.
"It was exciting; I think everyone got their money's worth," head coach Don Flanagan said. "I think a lot of people questioned us for a period of time in the first half, but they stayed right in the game."
The Lobos won despite shooting a season-low 27.7 percent from the field and scoring only 22 points in the first half. With so many shots clanging off the rim, UNM hustled its way to 20 offensive rebounds to scramble for several second chance opportunities.
"Their turnovers and our offensive rebounds were the biggest factor," Flanagan said. "We shot poorly, but we got 20 offensive rebounds."
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Trailing 33-22 at halftime, the Lobos burst out of the gates on a 7-0 run to get back into the game, helped by three straight Ram turnovers. Guard Molly McKinnon sliced through the lane for a layup to open the run. Forward Chelsea Grear followed with a steal and breakaway layup and forward Melissa Forest ended the run with a 3-pointer to send the 9,396 in attendance into a frenzy.
"We talked about not trying to make it up in one play," Flanagan said of the Lobos' halftime discussion. "And we went down and did very well early on. The first four minutes were crucial and we did very well the first four minutes."
CSU hit two straight threes to build the lead to 39-29, but the Lobos tightened up on defense. UNM started to get its hands on every pass, switched on every screen and double-teamed the post to force the Rams to shoot from the outside, where they came up with blanks. The Lobos scored 14 of the next 16 points to grab its first lead of the game at 43-41 with eight minutes remaining and would never trail again.
Hanging on to a 49-47 lead with 1:19 left, UNM corralled three straight offensive rebounds to force CSU to foul. The Lobos would seal the win from the free throw line, making seven-of-nine.
After shooting 52 percent in the first half, CSU shot a lousy 23.8 percent in the second to shoot a season-low 38 percent for the game.
Forward Lindsey Arndt recorded a career-high 15 points to go with 10 rebounds. Grear also posted a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, seven of them offensive.
As cold as it was outside The Pit, UNM's shooting was frozen in the first half. After making two of their first four shots to open the game, the Lobos only made three shots over the next 13 minutes to trail 28-13.
However, the Lobos would gather some momentum at the end of the half by making three of their last five shots.
"I like what we did in the last four minutes," Flanagan said. "We got ourselves back in position where we could catch them."
The Lobos next the University of Wyoming Saturday at 1 p.m.
